A vineyard's yield is the amount of grapes produced at harvest. This is usually measured in tons per acre of vines and can range from one or two tons per acre for small scale artisan wineries to 15 tons per acre for large table grape producers who cultivate their vines for maximum yield.In California differences in yield primarily come from vines planted at different densities per acre and the way the growers manage their vineyard throughout the season. In the interest of producing denser wines with more flavor, producers usually cut back on the amount of fruit. Higher quality fruit will often sell at higher prices, and a lower yield requires less effort at harvest. So there is a balance between quantity and quality, depending om the grape grower's goal.A winery's production is expressed in cases (12 bottles) of wine per year. A small garage-type winery usully produces between one thousand to ten-thousand cases a year. Extremely large producers, such as Beringer, Gallo, and Fetzer produce over five million cases a year. To estimate how much wine a typical acre in Temecula can produce, you can use an average vineyard yield of 4 tons and that a ton will make 150 gallons of wine. An acre would then produce 600 gallons of wine, 3000 bottles, or 250 cases. So how many bottles of wine are produced by one single grape vine? 4-6.

The first vines have started flowering. Flowering or blooming is the stage where the pollination and fertilization of the grape vine takes place,to develop the grape berries.Unfortunately grape vines bloom in an unspectacular way, as they only have very tiny flowers.We have birds nesting in our vineyard. After all it is May. See uploaded picture! When we run into a nest, we skip shoot removal on that particular vine. We can catch up on canopy management at a later pass when the young birds have left.

The university of Davis developed a climate scale for wine regions, and this is widely used in California. Napa and Paso Robles are classified as Region II, similar to Bordeaux in France. Temecula is Region III, similar to the French Rhône valley.Some Temecula vintages -1999, 2004, 2005, and recently 2010- have seen relatively mild temperatures comparable to the Region II climate of the Napa wine area. Interestingly, the average temperature in Temecula -and Napa- during the growing season has been declining over the last 15 years. While this may seem the opposite of Global Warming, we need to realize that Global Warming is a long term trend, stretching over multiple decades. It is unlikely that Temecula will become the new Napa in a few decades :-)2011 so far has been developing as a "normal" Temecula Region III vintage. Irrigation needs to start soon.

Flower clusters have developed on the vines, and we continue with canopy management. I uploaded new pictures.